Hi all, I just signed my 2014 contract, negotiations went very well., I will be returning to Camp Indian Head for my fourth season. IHC is a residential camp, of about 600 campers and staff. It is located in northeastern PA, with a 7 week season. We have no special needs that would not be found in a normal school population. I thought I would start another work thread. So please feel free to post anything about getting or having a camp job in 2014. As always I hope to increase communication across what seems to be a very isolated field. If you don't feel comfortable posting the name of your camp, please post any details you feel able to share.
I will be working in Fayette, Maine. Androrn, what types of injuries do you find you deal with most at an all boys camp and are there certain species I should watch out for in Maine...certain spiders, etc? Glad to have someone not far away!
Wint, you are not far from me at all. Fayette has a place that some of the staff likes to visit at night. Which camp will you be at?
As for injuries---think of all the things boys can get into. Being a mostly sports camp (but not all) we always manage to see some fractures during the summer. Luckily usually nothing that can't be handled w/ some splinting and a xray and doctor's visit. Also see lots of twisted ankles. Bug bites, colds, occasional stomach aches, etc. also adds to the work of the day.
I don't get too excited about the creatures. Yes there are spiders and bugs and rodents. Most of our spiders just come back after we try to get rid of them. Of course I just consider that they eat the mosquitos, so there is a positive side to having them around. On another plus side is that Maine has no poisonous snakes---but they will bite if the kids decide to torture them, as boys are known to do. Ours have at times tried (and succeeded) in catching them.
Hope you have a great summer. I am counting down the days until I am able to head up there. Only 4 more weeks to work until my time off for the summer begins.
Wint & androrn - looks like we've got a small group of us in Maine. I'm working at a camp in Wiscasset. It's a boys residential camp with boys, girls, or co-ed wildreness trip opportunities.
Big Al, Girl Scout camps have an eight week season but girls only come for a week or two at a time. They're quite different from Boy Scout camps--more like the traditional camp model (no troop leaders, not focused on badges).
My best piece of advice... besides to get the Basics of Camp Nursing book... is to ask the director straight up, what did the last nurse do that worked well? what would she like to see done differently? When I started as a camp nurse it was a transition from being regular camp staff at the same place, so I knew the culture/schedule/needs well and had been thinking about it for years! When we had other nurses come in, often working for only a couple of weeks at a time, the thing that was hardest (at least, with the nurses who were genuinely competent nurses... the other ones are another story) is that some of them were so excited to be there, they seemed to forget that the health center isn't the center of camp... our job is to get the campers and staff back out there and see them as little as possible!
(At the health center, that is. It's great to see them at meals and activities!)
I am taking my first ever RN job as a camp nurse in Maine this summer. I received and signed my contract a few hours ago. I am looking forward to learning from this thread.
Before applying to camps, I had read the articles mentioned in the original post.
Specializes in Family Medicine, Tele/Cardiac, Camp.
I'm going to be in Maine this summer too! Ha! So many Maine people. :) I guess they do have a lot of camps there. I'll be 1 of 5 nurses at an all-girls camp. I guess they'll have 2 of us in the health lodge at a time. I'll be there for 6 weeks, 2 will be there for the full 9 weeks, 1 will be there for the last 3 weeks, and 1 will be there during orientation and on my days off.
It'll be quite a change from last year for me when I was the only nurse at a co-ed camp. Still, very much looking forward to it.
Camp starts on June 28 so excited to start my 6 th year at Camp Vacamas in NJ. Will only be there a few days a week though but still excited to pack my kids up
I am new at the camp nursing biz this year, although I've been dying to do it for years! I'm at a Girl Scout camp in the southern tier of NY state and so far I love it!
How's it going? Camp is in full swing here, we've had some staffing issues at our health center, but the administration is great and we are getting a new nurse on Monday. The three of us that make up the current team work well together and will pull together to get through this weekend and keep one another going.
I've seen an elephant, tigers and a snoopy all this week at camp. I even heard a report of a lake shark attack! Yikes. Snoopy got a full head to toe work up, and is well except for his scratched lens, he may eventually need glasses. Even reports of the tooth fairy around here, she's probably going to need a vacation soon with all the 10 year olds losing their molars.
Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.
We had a bear sighting last week! Before clearing the area, some of the counselors took selfies w the bear! Yikes! One of the maintenance men took the health center golf cart down and used the siren to scare it off.
They relocated our problem bear. Camp is going pretty good this year. We just lost a nurse due to family issues so If anyone wants a 2 week stint let me know.
androrn
17 Posts
Wint, you are not far from me at all. Fayette has a place that some of the staff likes to visit at night. Which camp will you be at?
As for injuries---think of all the things boys can get into. Being a mostly sports camp (but not all) we always manage to see some fractures during the summer. Luckily usually nothing that can't be handled w/ some splinting and a xray and doctor's visit. Also see lots of twisted ankles. Bug bites, colds, occasional stomach aches, etc. also adds to the work of the day.
I don't get too excited about the creatures. Yes there are spiders and bugs and rodents. Most of our spiders just come back after we try to get rid of them. Of course I just consider that they eat the mosquitos, so there is a positive side to having them around. On another plus side is that Maine has no poisonous snakes---but they will bite if the kids decide to torture them, as boys are known to do. Ours have at times tried (and succeeded) in catching them.
Hope you have a great summer. I am counting down the days until I am able to head up there. Only 4 more weeks to work until my time off for the summer begins.